Menu

Category Archives: People

November 9th is the birthday of Carl Sagan (1934-1996), an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences. He is best known as creator and host of the seminal science TV show Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980). Sagan was known as a skeptic and freethinker. That is why today is considered Carl Sagan Day by many in the freethought community.Continue reading →

When I’ve had discussions about religion and the bad parts of religion with some of my liberal religious friends, I point out that I don’t hear their leaders speaking out against the bad actions made in their religion’s name. If they fail to speak out against the extremism, it gives their religions a black eye. Nobel prize-winning author Wole Soyinka seems to agree with me.Continue reading →

February is Black History Month in the United States. Did you know that one of the people responsible for what we now know as Black History Month was a Humanist? Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875 – 1950) was a historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Woodson was one of the first scholars to study African-American history.Continue reading →

Former political prisoner and President of South of Africa Nelson Mandela passed away on Thursday December 5th. He was imprisoned for 27 years for battling against apartheid in South Africa. He was elected the first black President of the country after apartheid was ended.Continue reading →

Earlier this week Oprah Winfrey interviewed endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, who recently completed the swim between Cuba and the US at age 64. Nyad said she is an atheist who appreciates the awe and beauty of nature. Winfrey was gobsmacked and actually said Nyad can’t be an atheist because only believers can appreciate the beauty of nature. Winfrey expressed a typical, and false theist meme about atheists.Continue reading →

Ellery Schempp’s protest of required Bible reading in his High School lead to the case Abington School District v. Schempp being decided in 1963

Fifty years ago today, the US Supreme Court handed down their landmark decision Abington School District v. Schempp that struck down a Pennsylvania law that mandated Bible reading in the public schools. The case started with a protest in 1956 by then High School student Ellery Schempp. His case showed us the importance of dissent and that mandatory Bible reading, in public schools, infringes on religious liberty. It’s great that Dr. Schempp is still active in the struggle to protect the 1st Amendment and he is definitely a Humanist you should know.Continue reading →